Pranks and Paybacks
by lovecastle89
Summary: Daniel convinces the team to get back at Lance for all the pranks and bad jokes he's ever played on them. But, when Lance sets off a series of annoying pranks, will Daniel and the others get their revenge or will Lance have the last laugh? Set in Voltron Force after "Crossed Signals" and features the whole cast of Voltron Force. Rated T for crude humor and minor cursing.
1. Chapter 1

_**Ever since this past April Fool's Day, I've had this story in my head, but I didn't want to wait until next April Fool's to release it, so with Halloween just around the corner, why not publish it now? I thought of something similar to April Fool's on Arus and decided to call it "Arus Fool's" instead. Enjoy!**_

_**I do not own Voltron or any of its characters, nor do I make money off of this story. Any OC's in here, I have created. **_

All it took was one glance at the holocalendar on Daniel's wall that morning and suddenly his heartbeat soared into the stratosphere. Today there would be so much to plan and he had to find his teammates. While his breaths expelled out in short, rapid bursts, Daniel sprinted down the hallway, a huge grin of relief on his face when he spotted Lance on duty in the control room with Coran. Abruptly, he stopped to catch a glimpse out of one of the castle windows and spied Allura and Keith holding hands as they walked through the rose garden. He leaped for joy and raised his fist in the air as he had been hoping they would be occupied. Desperate, yet excited to find the others, he continued his run through the castle. _To the gym! _ he told himself. When he finally arrived there, he had inadvertently activated the door's security panel causing the door to slam shut behind him and stunning his friends into silence. The door to the gym never was closed, ever, and Daniel stood serious, yet silent among all of them.

A loud thud was heard as Vince nearly dropped his kettlebell on his foot and Larmina who had been furiously doing push-ups, fell on her face with a loud "Ow!" followed by a muffled curse while her auburn ponytail flung over her head. Hunk and Pidge were passing a medicine ball between each other and upon Daniel's presentation, Pidge accidentally threw the ball to Hunk hitting him in the groin. "Uumph!," Hunk cried out in agony, a spasm of pain shot across his face. Gaining some composure, yet still sulking in humiliation, everyone waited for Daniel to explain why he slammed the door shut.

"Listen up everyone! Tomorrow is Arus Fool's Day!" Daniel burst out as he looked around at each his friends as their faces were mixed with confusion, shock, but then eagerness for his explanation. A moment later, he stated, "What that means is Lance is going to play bad jokes on us again. We've got to get back at him. Think of all the jokes he's played on all of us. Don't you think it's payback time?"

Everyone remained silent until Pidge spoke up as he wiped his hands on his sweat-soaked tank top. "I have two questions. Are you absolutely sure tomorrow is Arus Fool's Day? Second, how can we get back at Lance without him finding out?"

"It's on the calendar. See for yourself!" Daniel emphasized. "We need to figure something out together. He's such a prankster."

"Yeah, and so are YOU." Larmina responded sharply. "You're just as big a troublemaker."

"Yeah, but Lance can get away with so much more," Daniel said.

Larmina thought for a moment before her eyes narrowed as she thought of an embarrassing joke Lance pulled on her. "I remember last year when he put cellophane on my toilet seat and I sat down on it and went! Ugh!" she said making a sour face.

"Oh yeah! I remember that one. That was genius!" Daniel laughed until he saw the furiosity in Larmina's eyes.

"How about my foot up your ass?" she warned and he grinned back like a Cheshire cat before putting his arm around her.

"He's always telling and pulling stupid jokes. We gotta get back at him. What could we do?" Vince asked putting the kettle ball back in its place.

"Let's be really nasty and put something in his coffee, so he'll be running to the bathroom all day. I would die laughing at him messing his flight suit or Red." Daniel exclaimed clapping his hands together while laughing.

"Yeah, then who's he going to make clean his suit AND Red." Larmina asked raising her eyebrows and Daniel only shrugged in response.

"Too bad we can't get him in an elevator. You know how he hates those!" Vince said resting his chin on his fist and in deep thought.

Pidge pondered for a few moments until he brought up one awful prank Lance pulled on them some time ago. "I still won't forget when we ate that pizza and Lance had put that awful hot sauce on top without us knowing," he said making a grimace and squirming.

"Yeah, I had some of that. It burned my throat like fire and it felt just as bad coming out the other end." Daniel said quickly shaking his head while Larmina stared with her mouth gaping.

"That sauce was made from ghost peppers and they are some of the hottest peppers you'll find on Earth..." Hunk started to explain until Pidge jerked up suddenly, his eyes wide at the mention of 'ghost.'

"That's it! Ghosts! Lance is afraid of ghosts. Remember we were just on that ship and he was freaking out about ghosts! We can get him back by haunting him!" yelled holding his arms out.

"Huh?" Hunk asked, his brown eyes wide with perplexity and then suddenly he remembered. Opening his eyes wide with excitement, he added "Oh yeah! Lance did freak out!" and then he laughed.

"Ghosts?" Daniel asked, a hint of skepticism in his voice as he walked closer to Pidge. "How are we gonna pull that one off?"

"Let me tell you what I can do," Pidge stated and he motioned with his arms to gather them together in a circle. Pidge's plan consisted of setting up cameras in a storage shed and projecting holograms of ghostly figures that would frighten Lance. All that had to happen to lure Lance in the shed, was to get him to retrieve some parts for his lion, so Hunk could complete a few upgrades on it. Clever and sneaky smiles on all their faces brightened as they began to think this would work, but then Pidge also brought up Daniel's suggestion of putting something in Lance's coffee to make his bowels as he put it "active." At the mention of that plan, laughter filled the entire gym, but was quickly interrupted when once again the door to the gym flung open and there standing in the entryway was Keith and Allura holding hands.

"Hey Team!" Keith called to all of them with a cheerful smile, his blue eyes shining. "Working hard or hardly working?" he asked with a snicker. Allura laughed at his silly quip and squeezed his hand.

"Hey Keith! We were just talking about tomorrow being..." Vince started, but before he could finish, Larmina had jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, a sign to shut his mouth.

"We're always working hard. Come on Keith. We are the Voltron Force," Daniel replied with a smug tone to his voice.

"Okay, it's just odd that the door is closed. We thought you all were gossiping," Allura replied, her eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to the side.

"About what?" Larmina demanded. "The next robeast attack?"

"No, not that, just well, any good rumours or who's dating who?" Allura asked casually squirming a bit as though she was feeling coy.

"You mean like Coran with one of the maids?" Larmina asked jokingly with a giggle.

"Oh no! That's crazy Larmina! Never mind," Allura finally said in a perturbed voice as she and Keith turned to leave and the door closed once again.

Brief silence followed until Hunk began to sing, "Love is in the air.." Then, the conversation quickly turned onto a different plane.

"Yeah, those two have been spending a lot of time together. Maybe, they thought we were talking about them?" Vince suggested.

"I've seen them holding hands, all the time," Daniel said, his voice quiet as though being secretive.

"Could Keith become king? I mean he just learned he has Arusian heritage," Pidge asked.

"Yeah, and maybe they'll get married," Daniel responded and then gave a laugh.

"Oh! Enough of those two! We've got pranks to plan!" Larmina snapped. "We can't let them find out our plans for Lance. You know, they'll tell him about it!" Then approaching Daniel and Pidge, she looked from one to the other and poked her finger at Pidge's chest. "This better work!"

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Morning came quickly when the team awoke to their voltcom alarms chiming. It was a morning like any morning and Hunk yawned and stretched before stumbling out his bedroom door. As he met Pidge, Daniel, Vince and Larmina in the hallway, they headed to the dining hall. Each one agreed that they seemed unusally tired that morning, but couldn't understand why. Their voltcom alarms always chimed at the same each morning.

Sitting down at the breakfast table, they waited for the cook to take their orders as usual. Hunk couldn't wait for coffee and he was sure that he would order it extra strong. Larmina yawned and Vince did the same while Daniel nodded off for a moment. Pidge couldn't understand why the kitchen staff kept staring at them as though confused.

"You're up early guys," Maurice, the big burly cook with a walrus mustache remarked as he looked at all of them in a perplexed way before setting down orange juice and bacon. Hunk immediately reached for a piece of bacon and slowly began chewing it all the while looking from one team member to another.

"What time do YOU have?" Pidge asked as he turned his head towards Maurice. His hopes were that the kitchen clocks were off, but that nagging feeling in his core told him otherwise.

"Almost half past 0600." Maurice replied. "Anyway, I can hook you up with the early-bird special-two eggs anyway you want them, hashbrowns, coffee..looks like all of you are gonna need," He waited for them to order while he held his writing stencil on his electronic order pad.

"Give us just a moment," Pidge replied after taking a slow, deep breath and with that Maurice nodded before he ambled casually back to the kitchen.

"Is he serious? Our voltcoms say half-past seven!" Daniel exclaimed slamming his arm down on the table. He got up and began to look around the dining hall and noticed that all of the clocks said the same time as Maurice's did including a couple of castle guards whose watches said the very same thing.

"Something's not right here," Pidge said shaking his head, "and I'm going to the control room to see if I can figure it out. Order me the early bird special, I'll be right back." Having said that Pidge dashed out of the dining hall on his way to the control room.

Several minutes past and the others were half-way through their breakfasts as Pidge's sat their at the table getting cold. Hunk was contemplating getting a to-go box for Pidge until they saw him rushing back towards their table.

"Alright guys, I've got it figured out and I knew this was a prank! I just knew it!" he exlaimed firmly as he looked at each of them. They eached leaned in to listen to his explanation. "I checked into the voltcom system and sure enough someone hacked into the main computer system and set back our internal voltcom clocks one hour back."

"See! I told you guys! I know it's Lance!" Daniel yelled as he pounded his fist down on the table.

"You're absolutely right Daniel. I did a search of passwords and usernames and I managed to track down the username. "LLL," Pidge said pushing back his glasses.

"What does 'LLL' mean?" Hunk asked his eyes puzzled.

"Ladies love Lance," Pidge replied rolling his eyes.

"You got that right," a voice called from just a few feet away. There was Lance standing next to them holding a tray of powdered donuts. "Wow! You all are up early and you've breakfast already?" he remarked before bursting into laughter upon viewing their tired, cranky expressions.

"Yeah, thanks a lot Lance!" Larmina snapped. "We know you messed with our alarms."

"Yes, you found me out. I'm sorry and I knew you would figure it out, so I brought you all some donuts to make up for my bad prank. Enjoy," he said as sincerely as he could before setting the platter of donuts on the table and then leaving the dining hall chuckling to himself.

Everyone was quietly eyeing the donuts on the platter. Hunk's mouth was watering as powdered donuts were his favorite. They were always moist and soft to bite into and the best part was that sweet powdered coating that they were dredged in. All he had to do was reach out his hand to the platter and pick one up. Larmina had only a bite of bacon and a few bites of egg for breakfast, but she thought a donut would really satisfy her. She too craved one as did Pidge and Daniel.

"Wait everyone!" Vince abruptly exclaimed. "How do we know these aren't a prank as well?"

"But, they're just donuts," Hunk replied innocently overcome by the delicious sight in front of him. "What could possibly be wrong with them?"

"He's right Hunk. I bet anything Lance has done something to these. I've got an idea. Why don't we each grab one and on the count of three, we'll bite into it." Daniel offered. They all agreed and each picked up a donut.

"Okay, 1, 2,3," Pidge started the count and on "3" they all took a bite out of their donuts.

After biting and starting to chew the donut, Hunk then stopped in mid-chew with donut still in his mouth. Pidge made a face as did Larmina after trying theirs. Vince puffed out a cloud of white dust before spitting his bite out on the plate. His lips were stark white in comparison to his black complexion. Daniel too spit his out before exclaiming, "Ugh! What is that coating? It's can't be powdered sugar!"

Hunk set down the donut before replying calmly, "Baking powder."

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First it was the early morning rude awakening and now the awful baking powder-coated donuts. Lance had fooled the team, not once, but twice and Daniel's intensity for revenge against Lance was even more fueled.

After grabbing a large cup from the kitchen, he planned a door ambush. When Lance opened wide a door that was ajar, a cup of water would fall and splash soaking him wet. But, instead of water, Daniel filled the cup with bright, orange paint.

"How do you know Lance is going to come through that door?" Larmina asked skeptically while her arms were crossed.

"Because he takes this stairwell everyday on the way to the control room. He has the one hour duty while Pidge takes a break," Daniel replied confidentally as he carefully placed the cup with the paint on top of the door frame.

"Hmmm, I think we'll be here forever," she mumbled as she turned away from him.

"No, we won't. Lance will be on his way," Daniel replied while peaking from beyond the door. Several moments passed as Larmina grew impatient and in true ninja-style, she began scaling the wall while Daniel stood waiting for any sign of Lance. "Oh, here he comes!" Daniel gasped eagerly and Larmina peaked with excitement and leaped down, her turquoise eyes bright as now she believed they were going to pull the prank off.

But, what Daniel and she didn't know was that Coran was right behind Lance and had now met up beside him. Before Daniel and Larmina even figured it out, it was Coran who had pushed the door open and with a crash bright orange paint splat on Daniel's feet and suit, then onto Coran.

"What on Arus!" Coran demanded, his brown eyes dark with anger as orange paint was splotched onto his brown coat and flecks of orange scattered in his mustache.

"Dan-man," Lance said as he approached Daniel and upon placing his hands on his shoulders, said, "You should've gotten out of the way," then gave him a cocky grin before demeaning him further, "You'll never outsmart me or my jokes little toad."

"Aargh!" Daniel yelled at the top of his lungs as he tore out of the stairwell with Larmina close behind.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Just beware that this chapter contains crude potty humor. **_

"Okay Vince, I downloaded some holographic images here on these chips and we're going to project them in the shed, but I need you to help me set it up." Pidge said with a take-charge attitude as he held two small microchips in his hand. They had to get the plans to scare Lance into place and there was no time to waste. They knew Lance had more tricks up his sleeve and there would be more pranks coming their way. He grabbed two cameras out of a cabinet in the control room before they both headed down to the shed which was just a short walk from the castle. Pidge looked around a bit before turning the knob on the shed door slowly and then motioned Vince to follow him inside the pitch darkness. Turning on the illuminator on their voltcoms, they were able to see the contents, both old and new which consisted mostly of ship parts, tools, a large burned-out warp core and an eye that used to be from one of the lions. It glowed immensely in the light of their voltcoms causing them to feel chills down their spines.

"Okay, let's set one of the camera's up there," Pidge said while pointing up at the far east corner of the shed. Vince gave a nod as he climbed a ladder up to place the camera in the spot.

"I don't need one of those,"Pidge bragged as he pointed to the ladder and in ninja-style, he scurried up the wall on the opposite west corner and placed the other camera there after brushing away tangles of cobwebs.

"Impressive, I must say," Vince responded as he nodded at Pidge's stealthy precision and began his descent down the ladder, but froze when his eyes caught a large, clown doll high on a shelf above the entrance door. It was dressed in a one-piece blue and white diamond-patterned suit with a wide collar and its face was a pasty white with a large ever-present grin and a huge red nose. But, what made Vince shiver in fright and his eyes grow large, was the clown's own enormous, staring blue eyes. It was as though it caught the in the act of a crime. "Boy, that thing is creepy," he said in an eerie tone and he turned his head towards Pidge who was also eyeing it.

"I agree. Let's get out of here. This place gave me the creeps the moment we stepped in," Pidge stated as he opened the door before they quickly exited.

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Pidge and Vince split before Pidge met up with Hunk outside of the control room. Briskly, they walked into an empty conference room and carefully closed the door. Pidge searched for anyone nearby and listened as well to make absolutely certain that no one would see or hear what he and Hunk were up to. He then pulled from his picket and handed over to Hunk a small vial of a clear liquid with a few particles floating in it.

"It's a couple of pills I've crushed and dissolved in water. These are the same pills that Coran had to take for his colon test last week. Remember?" Pidge asked with a smirk.

"Oh yeah. He was busy in the control room bathroom that day, all day. None of us could get in to use it and when it was open, whoo!" Hunk stated as he waved his hand in front of his face.

"Yes. I put in a double dose here. I snuck these out of Dr. Gorma's medical supplies. Just add the vial to a cup of Lance's coffee and wait for him to go and go!" Pidge said carefully as Hunk put the vial into his pants pocket. Then, they both burst into laughter.

Immediately, Hunk went to the dining room and just like he thought, Lance was sitting at a table drinking a cup of coffee. _This is going to be so easy, _Hunk thought.

"Hey Lance!" Hunk called cheerfully as he sat down across from Lance.

"Hunk, sorry again about the donuts and the rude awakening this morning. You're not sore at me are you?" Lance asked as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, baking powder. Ick. Look, I've got no hard feelings Lance. I know you're a practical joker and always have been one." He made a bit more small talk and then added, "I'm just here to have some coffee. Do you want a refill?" he asked pointing at Lance's cup.

"Sure," Lance responded before handingover his cup to Hunk.

Hunk strolled over to the coffeemaker and poured himself a cup of coffee and refilled Lance's. Shooting a glance over to Lance, he noticed him smiling and he nodded at him before turning slightly sideways to his left, hoping Lance wouldn't suspect him opening the vial and pouring the contents of it in his coffee. But, Lance saw just the slightest movement of Hunk's arm at the coffee counter and then quickly move his hands towards his pants pocket. Lance's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he knew Hunk was up to something. Hunk returned to their table, a smile on his face as he carried the two bright, red coffee cups to the table.

"Here you go," he stated as he pushed Lance's cup towards him and Lance smiled in thanks.

"Ooh, I almost forgot the creamer. I never drink my coffee without it," Hunk said as he rose from the table.

"I can get it," Lance offered.

"No, I got it," Hunk said and with that he got up and walked back to the coffee station grabbing three creamers. In that short time, Lance switched their coffee cups. Not suspecting a thing, Hunk returned to the table and dumped the creamers in before he began sipping away. "Ooh, this is good," he said contently.

"I agree. The castle has the best coffee," Lance stated smiling back before humming to himself.

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Lance whistled on the way to the dining room. Having been finished with his short time in the control room, he was off to have a late lunch. Rolling up his sleeves on his jacket, he smiled and rubbed his hands together as he thought of all the jokes and pranks he had played on everyone so far. How he loved tormenting them! Especially Daniel. He had to admit Daniel was clever in trying to top his tricks, but still he was no Lance! Lance could outsmart him like nothing and the same could be said for Hunk who had tried to sabotage his coffee! Lance's smile grew even more huge as he strolled into the dining room. Keith was planning to have lunch with Allura and dine at their same table. Lance chuckled softly as he had prank plans for them as well.

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Walking arm in arm with Keith towards the dining hall, Allura giggled as she heard her stomach growl. Lunch would be late for her and she closed her eyes as she could almost taste the tomato bisque she planned to pair with a caesar salad. Of course, having lunch with Keith was always something to look forward to. There were more details to share with him concerning his newly-founded Arusian heritage. Feeling gushy, she thought how wonderful that Keith and she were meant to be. Maybe after lunch they would have some alone time in the rose garden or tour the royal crypts.

"Finally lunch," Allura stated with relief as she pushed a lock of blonde hair behind her ear as Keith in a gentlemanly manner, pulled out her chair for her. Sitting gracefully, she waited for him to take his seat, and as he did, a loud PFFFTTT! sounded through the dining area. The other diners turned their heads towards Keith's chair and as he sat in shock, they eyed him suspiciously and Allura's face showed surprise.

"No, it's the chair!" Keith shrieked, his face reddened with a mix of embarrassment and agitation.

Rising from a chair across the dining room, Lance strolled over while suppressing laughter, "Keith, my friend! How could you do that? Tisk tisk...Such behavior to impose on the woman you are courting, who just happens to be the queen of this planet. How could you?" Lance asked sarcastically as he then placed his hands on Allura's shoulders.

Keith glared at him as he lifted the cushion of the chair and pulled out a whoopie cushion. "I don't suppose you know anything about this?" he asked Lance confrontationally.

"Oh come on Keith! Don't be so cranky! Don't you know what day it is today?" Lance jeered, "It's Arus Fool's Day!" and then he skipped out of the dining room. Keith sighed and rolled his eyes as sat back down on his chair cautiously. Allura sat in her chair uneasily. Lance's childish prank left her a bit exasperated and she was already having a late lunch.

"You know there'll be more stupid, childish jokes from him," Keith said rubbing his temples and then Allura took his hands in hers.

"Let's not let him bother us. It's only one day," she replied smiling fondly at him.

Just then, Hunk rushed across the dining hall, sounds of farts emanating from his behind. "Excuse me! Excuse me! Ooh, I gotta go, gotta go!" he exclaimed as he waddled out of the dining hall desperately searching for a bathroom.

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It seemed like an eternity before Hunk finally reached the door to the nearest private bathroom. It was the second time since lunch that he had to urgently get to a bathroom. Opening the door, he pulled his pants down and before he even plopped down onto the toilet, his bowels gave way to a large and noisy eruption. "Ahh!" he exclaimed. Again, he went and after several minutes and two flushes of the toilet, he arose forth and washed his hands. Lighting a match as he walked out, he wasn't expecting to see Pidge, Daniel and Vince standing just outside conversing as though they were expecting to him to emerge from the bathroom anytime. "Whoa!," he exlaimed as he waved the match until the flame dissipated. "Don't anyone go in there!" he added pointing his thumb back to the bathroom door.

"Whoa! You really did a number in there Hunk," Daniel laughed while Pidge twisted his face in disgust and Vince plugged his nose.

"I know," Hunk replied sheepishly. "It might have been the stir fry I had for lunch."

Pidge's mouth gaped wide open and his eyes grew nearly as big as his mouth's as he realized the possible reason for Hunk's bathroom ordeal. "Don't tell me _you_ got that stuff in _your _coffee?"

"Huh? I don't think so," Hunk stammered in reply, but he also remembered that he had gotten up from the table to get creamer for his coffee and knowing that he had left it unattended. Could Lance have gotten wind of his idea that something was put in the coffee and switched it? Hunk felt guilt rising and his face flushed, "I put it in Lance's coffee, I swear."

"I have a sneaking suspicion that you go duped," Pidge stated firmly and Hunk only shrugged his shoulders while Daniel and Vince shook their heads. They all turned their heads to footsteps coming down the hallway. It was Larmina and she stopped when she saw all of them gathered there.

As she got closer, she wrinkled her nose in disgust before waving her hand up and down in front of her face. "Ugh! What smells like butt here?" she asked. They explained to her what happened to Hunk. Agitated, she grabbed at the roots of her red hair as though pulling at it. Feeling already mentally strained from having to calm Daniel down earlier after his confrontation with Lance, she growled, "Great! Lance turned the trick onto him! Come on guys! We gotta get back at him!"

_**Hopefully, from reading this story so far, you've gotten some fun ideas for practical jokes for your friends, coworkers, etc. I don't encourage anyone to do to another person what happened to Hunk. That's just cruel, but it does work well in a fictional presentation.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Lance's urge to prank Keith and Allura again nagged at him like a tiny tack pricking him lightly at the back of his neck. The whoopie cushion was just a tad bit childish, but he still had the laugh of his life watching Keith redden and tense up in the dining room. After lunch, Keith had just gone into the restroom to shower in the open shower stall and Lance knew Allura wasn't far behind to wait for him. Staring at the two restroom doors, a mischievous smile curved his lips as he pulled out a screwdriver from his jacket pocket In no time at all, he had removed the bolts on the bathroom signs and had them switched. Now, the women's bathroom was the men's and the men's the women's.

A few moments later, he could hear the soft pitter patter of Allura's feet approaching around the corner and Lance snuck behind an adjacent wall to hide. Hoping she would have to use the restroom, he closed his eyes and tapped his foot vigourously in anticipation until he saw her go in to what she thought was the women's restroom. Lance snickered as he put his hand to his mouth. Soon, his snickering gave way to a hardy belly laugh as Allura rushed out of the bathroom several seconds later.

"Ooh!" she exclaimed as her cheeks bore a rosy hue and her emerald eyes popping out as she slammed the bathroom door behind her while Lance jumped out of his hiding place. "Oh Gods!" she added, her blush deepening as she spotted Lance and pointed back to the bathroom door. "I, I saw Keith, Keith," she managed to stammer out before placing her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, I bet you did!" Lance doubled over in hysterical laughter. "Ha! Ha! Hoo! Hoo! Just like dejavu! You have me to thank, my lady!," he stated as he bowed perfunctorily before her.

"You, You! What?" she asked, her face still crimsoned.

"I switched the signs," he admitted pointing to the doors before bursting back into laughter.

"You!" She gave him a slap on the chest, but he only continued to laugh until the door burst open and there was Keith, his hair dripped wet as he gripped at a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Dammit Lance! I heard everything! I'm going to kick your a.." but Lance was already on the run and his laughter was heard echoing in the hallway.

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Pidge, Hunk, Daniel, Vince and Larmina stood around in the hunkyard as Hunk worked on one of the lion parts. The group was solemn and silent feeling defeated with tired, worn expressions.

"Okay. Lance has managed to get us how many times?" Larmina asked, her voice raised as she stomped back and forth. "And what have we done? Nothing! Our pranks have backfired! What makes you think this is going to work?" she demanded turning to Pidge.

"Just trust me. Third time is a charm," Pidge replied calmly before he made a perturbed face while glancing at Hunk's backside. "Hunk, is that a diaper you're wearing?" he asked increduously.

"Yeah. Don't laugh. I just couldn't take a chance in having another blowout in my pants," he replied, his face a shade of pink indicating his humiliation. Daniel and Vince turned away supressing their laughs.

"Come on Hunk! Don't you wanna clobber him? He totally turned that trick against you!" Daniel stated facing Hunk and then shaking his head when Hunk only shrugged.

"Well, I should've watched my coffee," Hunk replied.

The door to Hunk's shop flung open and in a very casual, yet conspicuous manner, Lance strode in. He grinned at all of them amid their scowls in return, but he couldn't help but feel proud that every one of his pranks had gone according to plan and that he would be the champ today. "Hey guys! I gotta tell you about the ones I played on Keith and Allura," he started to say.

"Shut up! We don't want to hear about your stupid pranks!" Larmina sneered. She crossed her arms, glaring at him with her face an angry flaming red, almost as red as her hair.

"Yeah Lance! We've had enough! I hope you get what's coming to you!" Daniel yelled as he ran up to challenge Lance.

"Yeah Dan-man? Bring it on," Lance warned, his voice starting to sound serious as he took a few steps closer to Daniel until they were only inches apart.

"Alright guys, that's enough," Pidge said as he broke between them, his hands pushing them back. "Lance, we've had enough jokes, seriously. Hunk's working on your lion right now doing some upgrades."

"Yeah Lance. I just need you to go to the storage shed and bring me back a new diffuser to put in Red," Hunk confirmed as he continued to work with his tools before turning his grease-smeared face towards Lance.

"Me? Go there? Why can't you Hunk?" Lance whined. Hunk's answer was to hold up his hands and wiggling his grease-saturated fingers.

"You expect me to go to that old shed, that dusty, dirty, dark joint and expect me to find that for my lion?"

"Fine, I'll do it," Pidge piped in. Hunk's mouth gaped open a perfect No! Pidge, standing behind Lance's back, gave Hunk a wink of his eye that Lance didn't see. Then turning to Lance, Pidge stated, "Too bad Lance you won't get to see Coran's scantily-clad pin-up girls on the walls." Lance crossed his arms and raised a suspicious eyebrow at what Pidge said.

"Really," he replied. "Coran has provacative pictures in there?" I don't believe you," Lance scoffed as he turned his back.

"I wish I was Lance. The guards told me once that Coran even has vintage girlie magazines from Earth that he stashed in that shed." Hunk and the others played along with what Pidge was saying, but still displayed looks of skepticism.

Silent for a moment, Lance put a finger to his lips as though contemplating. "Well, Okay, I'm going. I need to find out for sure if this is true! I'll be back gang." And with that, he headed out of Hunk's shop to the storage shed.

"Dang little buddy! You're a genius!" Hunk squealed as he clapped Pidge on the back.

"Okay Team, let's get ready for some revenge," Pidge gave a comical grin as he turned on a monitor which showed different live shots of the storage shed.

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Lance jotted to the storage shed and as he opened its creaking door, he took a deep breath. It was pitched black inside, so he turned on his voltcom for light that could help navigate him through the shed that was full of equipment and pieces of machinery. His curiosity was getting the better of him as he wanted to see if Coran did indeed have nude photos of girls stored somewhere. He strolled over to a set of cabinets and a work table, but cursed when he banged his knee against the table. It was still quite dark inside. Then, he saw movement and gasping aloud realized it was a spider scurrying across the table. "Eew!" he stated and began pushing back cobwebs from the cabinets and table. Opening the doors, he found no vintage Earth magazine or holopics of anything feminine. Slightly disappointed, he decided to search for the lion part to take back to Hunk and then get out.

"Okay, show time," Pidge stated as he turned on the first camera in the shed. The rest of the team had a perfect view of Lance as he stumbled about in the shed. Within seconds, an eerie, but real-looking image of a ghostly figure of a man with chains binding his wrists appeared. A frightening moan emanated from the figure causing Lance's hair on the back of his neck and his arms to stand up. He could feel his heart starting to pound in his chest and panic gripped his throat as the light went out on his volcom throwing him into blinding darkness.

"What the?" he exclaimed backing away from the figure before another appeared again. This time, it was that of a woman with hollowed-out eyes and a ragged gown on her thin, bony frame. Moans and screams from filled the shed. Lance's heart rate and blood pressure continued to rise and he stumbled as he backed away from the apparitions.

"It's working! It's working!" Hunk shouted with glee. "He's scared of the ghosts!" Daniel, Vince and Larmina jumped and high-fived each other.

"Yes! Finally! Payback time!" Daniel shouted pounding his fist in the air, his amethyst eyes filled with joy and Pidge sat back at the computer, a smug smile plastered on his face.

But only a short time later, the team's joyous revenge soured as they watched Lance sigh and cross his arms. "Hmmm..this is all fake!" he shouted out loud. "Come on guys! I got it figured out! You think I'm afraid of ghosts! Boooooo!" he laughed and hollered as his head whipped around as though trying to spot something, anything that would indicate he was being set up. Pidge refusing to give up, tapped a few keys on his keyboard and soon the door to the shop bolted shut.

"How'd you do that Pidge?" Vince asked, his mouth open in astonishment as Daniel, Larmina and Hunk leaned closer to peer over Pidge's shoulders.

"I have my ways to hack into this shed's security systems. I'm not giving up until we've got our revenge. I'll do anything to keep him scared," Pidge said, his breathing heavy.

"Seriously?" Lance groaned blinded and holding his arms out. He had found his way towards the door and began kicking at it hoping he could bust it open. Finding another light source near the entrance, he had the shop lit up and was able to find the diffuser Hunk asked him to retrieve. Placing the heavy object under his arm, he continued kicking at the door. Tapping away at the keyboard, Pidge was able to turn out the lights. This only elevated Lance's frustration. "Give it up!" he shouted. His banging and kicking at the door finally caused the door to finally burst open, but not before several items on the shelf above the door began to fall including the large clown doll. Lance never saw it coming and as he was blindsided, he tripped dropping the diffuser and it rolled down a small incline. Lance falling forward, tried to catch himself, but he fell arms splayed outside the shed, the large clown doll falling too onto him with the posable arms wrapped around Lance's neck and its velcro hands stuck together.

Pidge and the others viewing the whole scene in disbelief, laughed and rushing out of the shop, headed down the hill to outside of the shed. Lance, stunned for several moments stared at them wide-eyed and then slowly turning his head ever so slightly, screamed out when his face met the face of the grinning clown and opened its mouth to speak.

_I need a hug, _it stated in a cheerful animated voice.

"Aaahhh!" he screamed in panic, his heart racing while he tried to pull the clown off of himself. Keith and Allura, who happened to be nearby on a walking path, had heard all of the banging and commotion and went to investigate. Upon seeing Lance on the ground fighting to get the clown doll off of himself, Keith burst into laughter falling to the ground in a fetal position. Allura had let go of Keith's hand and sprinted towards Lance.

Continuing to fight off the clown doll, Lance struggled while hollering and shouting in fear, disgust and agitation. Grabbing a hold of his shoulders and shaking him, Allura stared right into Lance's eyes, "It's just a doll! It's a toy clown! It's not real!"

Keith continued laughing as he was doubled over with tears in his eyes. "Lance, you know, you shouldn't be boxing the clown in front of all of us!" he cried out before finally rising to his feet.

Daniel, Hunk, Pidge, Larmina and Vince were all hooting and laughing, their faces turning red as they laughed.

"This explains so much!" Hunk stated laughing before adding, "No wonder you didn't want me to dress as a clown at the castle carnival!"

"He's afraid of clowns! Ha! What a wimp!" Daniel yelled pointing and laughing at Lance who sat on the ground. The clown doll lay beside him on its side, one leg bent over its body and resting near its head. The creepy smile still permanent on its face as though it too had been laughing and was satisfied of terrifying the Red lion pilot. But, soon the laughter and mocking of Lance faded as heads turned to catch a glimpse of Coran ambling down the hill, his brown coat swishing at his legs.

"Well, well, are your practical jokes finally over Lance?" Coran asked him while looking down at Lance, whose eyes bore humiliation. Not bothering to wait for an answer, he turned from Lance and bent down over the clown doll as though studying it. "Giggles? Where have you been all this time my old friend?" Coran asked picking up the clown doll and examining it.

"Giggles?! That thing has a name?" Lance asked still sitting on the ground, his face now white horror as he repositioned himself into a crouching position.

"Yes. My father bought him for me from an antique store on my first trip to Earth. I was just a boy," Coran responded as his thumb rubbed over one of the clown's shiney, red shoes. "I never knew what happened to him all these years, but I'm glad he's found. I'll have to take him back to the castle and put him in a safe place." Coran nodded to Lance before smiling at the others as he carried the clown doll over his shoulder back to the castle, its creepy smiling face grinning back at all of them.

_Best friends, _they heard it say. Hunk, Pidge, Daniel, Larmina and Vince each stared at each other collectively wondering what had just happened.

"Ugghh!" Lance choked out, his hazel eyes bulging with fear and revulsion. Keith smiled and releasing his arm from Allura's waist, walked over to Lance and offered him his hand to help him rise.

"It's all over now Lance. I think we're all even," he said softly as he helped a mortified Lance to his feet.

Daniel, Pidge, Hunk and Larmina all breathed deeply as they followed Keith, Allura and Lance back to the castle. They finally had their payback, but each of them secretly worried if "Giggles" had it in for them.

_Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns. This story is intended to poke fun at Lance and not anyone reading who's afraid of clowns. I hope you enjoyed it and don't forget to review._


End file.
